Obamacare (mislabeled the Affordable Care
Act) is a debacle on affordable healthcare that was based on lies to
gullible Americans ready to believe any Dem propaganda coming from the likes of
the un-American President Barack Hussein Obama.
Justin Smith shows why Obamacare should be completely
scrapped with a true affordable healthcare reform to replace the Obama debacle.
Here are some intro words from Justin to me in submitting this editorial:
There is an expanse of
convoluted information on even the limited scope of this piece, which looks at
repealing the ACA, rather than replacing it. All the double talk these
politicians are doing is going to have to catch them one day. Soon I hope.
JRH 7/24/17
****************
Americans Demand Full Repeal
By Justin O. Smith
Sent: 7/23/2017 10:55 AM
"Experience hath shown
that, even under the best forms of government, those entrusted with power have,
in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." --
President Thomas Jefferson
Americans elected a Republican majority to Congress in 2016,
in large part, to repeal Obamacare and find solutions that would make health
care more affordable for all. We didn't send Republicans to D.C. to give
concessions to Democrats, who advocate for a single-payer communist system and
didn't care two-cents about Republican concerns in 2009. We didn't vote for
Obamacare-lite and more bailouts for insurance companies, or earmarks for
special interests. We don't want "repeal and replace". Americans want
to reduce the cost of health care for all Americans, and Americans demand a
full repeal.
One might think that repealing the corrupt, failed Obamacare
racket would be a fairly straightforward and necessary matter. However, on July
17th, many Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, proved
themselves to be no better than con-men and liars, along the same lines of
Democrats, who promised Americans an affordable health care system that allowed
them to keep their doctors, when Republicans attempted to bring a bill to the
floor, that left much of Obamacare intact and the Medicaid expansion in place
through 2024. They also created a $50 billion market stability fund nearly
identical to the Obamacare "risk corridors", rightly described as
"bailouts" by some conservative Republicans, such as Senators Mike
Lee and Rand Paul.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) demanded $1.32 billion from the
Stability Fund for Alaska in exchange for her vote on the 17th. And, the South
Dakota Purchase guarantees Indian Health services clients a 100 percent federal
Medicaid match, which is currently only allowed through the Indian Health
Service Department.
Shortly after Senator Mitch McConnell decided to pull this bill, Senator Rand Paul stated: "... the new bill is the same as the old bill except for it leaves in place more taxes, increases taxpayers subsidies to buy insurance, and adds $70 billion to the insurance bailout superfund. I don't see anything in here remotely resembling repeal. And I've said for some time now that the bill has to look more like repeal to get my vote. I can't support it at this point."
Shortly after Senator Mitch McConnell decided to pull this bill, Senator Rand Paul stated: "... the new bill is the same as the old bill except for it leaves in place more taxes, increases taxpayers subsidies to buy insurance, and adds $70 billion to the insurance bailout superfund. I don't see anything in here remotely resembling repeal. And I've said for some time now that the bill has to look more like repeal to get my vote. I can't support it at this point."
One is left wondering, about the Republican's political will
to do the right thing and set America's health care system back on a free
choice, free market path, that will allow it to succeed. The House passed a
Senate repeal bill by a vote of 219 to 212 in March 2010, which Obama didn't
sign; and yet, the Republicans chose not to defunded Obamacare, when they could
have.
Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Shelley Capito (R-WV) both
voted for a pure repeal bill in 2015, but now object to voting for a
similar bill. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) also stated that she wouldn't vote
to advance a pure repeal.
What health care legislation and reforms would these
Senators support, if they had to live under it too, without their current
exemptions?
On July 19th, President Trump called on the U.S. Senate to
"repeal and replace" Obamacare once again, when he should have been
giving a speech on the wonderful virtues of the free market. He missed a key
opportunity to explain that communism fails every time.
America's health care left the free market after the 1929 Baylor University experiment
with some Dallas, TX school teachers and Blue Cross, and by the end of the
1930s, a health insurance model that swept away excellent cost effective health
care arrangements was created by the American Medical Association, which called
those arrangements "commercial" and "unethical". This AMA creation evolved into a miserable mixture of government
and private sector power for insurers, that drove costs sky-high, even before
Obamacare, because federal tax policy and subsidies encouraged doctors to
charge exorbitant rates and rewarded companies for providing employees with
medical insurance.
Both the 1965 Medicare program and the 2010 ACA incorporate
the misguided logic of extending the influence of health insurance companies
over health care, supervising physicians and regulating medical
care, all in the name of controlling costs. This is a socialist and
crony-capitalist model that has failed Americans, and it must be eradicated,
while immediately implementing structural changes that create a real world free
market for both health insurance and health care.
A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study released on May 23rd, 2017
revealed average annual premiums increased from $2784 in 2013 to $5712 on
Healthcare.gov in 2017. This is a 105 percent increase.
Too many Americans mistakenly believe that they can take
more money out of the system, while receiving top-of-the-line treatment and
care, with minimal wait times and less money going into the system in the form
of premiums, co-pays and deductibles. They seek a fantasy, rather than real
solutions that provide the most good for all Americans.
When Senate Republicans sought negotiations with the
Democrats this spring, Senators Tim Kaine of Virginia and Tom Carper of
Delaware wanted funding (tax payer dollars) to offset
larger than expected insurance claims for health insurance companies
participating in the state and federal insurance exchanges. Senator Heidi
Heitkamp (D-ND) wouldn't even agree to a meeting, without an upfront Republican
agreement to no per capita Medicaid block grants to the states and no rollback
in Obamacare's Medicaid expansion.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) told NBC (Tues-July 18th) that
he was "not interested in bailouts for insurance companies alone without
reforms". He specifically dismissed any plan for guaranteed cost sharing
reduction payments, which are considered to be insurers most important demand.
During the first GOP debate, candidate Donald Trump said, "What I'd like to
see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. ... Get
rid of the artificial lines (50 state insurance commissions) and you will have
yourself great plans. And then we have to take care of the people that can't
take care of themselves ... through a different system."
Of course, the President and Congress should take a few more
actions to lower costs and create a real health care free market. It must be
made legal again for a person to buy any health insurance plan suited to one's
specific needs and choices, because people shouldn't have to pay for items they
don't need, like abortions, addictions and sex change operations, in order to
fund other people's health care. Congress must end all federal government
subsidies to health insurance companies, doctors and medical facilities, and
also start tort reform. And a strong free market will emerge to provide and
guarantee great health care at good prices.
Most importantly, anyone who really loves their family must
fight with every last ounce of their intestinal fortitude to ensure our
healthcare is maintained in a free environment, free from the arbitrary
high-handed authoritarian decisions of some Washington bureaucrat. Cost becomes
irrelevant, if a bureaucrat under a government operated system can deny a
person treatment, like the U.K. did in little baby Charlie Gard's life and
death case. Let's keep all health care services attainable for all Americans.
America is at a crossroads, and the Republican fight to
repeal Obamacare is worth having, in order to halt any movement towards a
catastrophic single payer system, by Democrats who are unwilling to accept any
significant conservative reforms. Republicans have a brief window in time, to
undo the damage to our health care system and stop Americans from being hurt
further by the ACA, and great legislative leaders would not hesitate in the
face of a hard task.
Failure to fully repeal Obamacare is unacceptable and a
crime against America.
By Justin O. Smith
______________________
Edited by John R. Houk
All source links are by the Editor
© Justin O. Smith
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